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finally I have met some friends of the Andrea! Let me first introduce myself: my name is Kristine Hannon, I call Belgium my home and I have been working on ships only since December 2008 as part of the expedition team. My job is driving the zodiacs, being staff assistent/AEL and photographer onboard.

My first ship ever was the Andrea! I came onboard December 11, 2008 in Buenos Aires and served as AEL, log writer, lecturer and photgrapher the whole Antarctic season 2008-09 on the Andrea.
We were 21 Croatian crewmembers employed by West Wind, 9 expedition staff employed by Elegant cruises and hotel staff from Sea Chefs. We did 5 cruises to Antarctica and 2 also including South Georgia and the Falklands. The season was great, passengers and crew loved the 'Old Lady' Andrea and everyone was happy.

During the season however, we noticed there was a lot wrong with our ship and equipment. Watertight doors that couldn't close, life boats attached with rope, not enough spare parts (which was already a problem regarding the age of the engine), not enough radio's for the zodiac drivers, 3 of the 6 zodiac engines not functioning and the remaining three not good also etc. I can go on for a while there. Passengers didn't notice anything but our Expedition Leader was far from happy about that. And I was too much of a rooky to be aware of the dangerous situation. Antarctica and Drake Passage are unforgiving.

All escalated during our last cruise in March. We hadn't been paid since January and Elegant was trying to comfort us telling we would get all money once the season was finished. We arrived back in Buenos Aires at the end of the season on March 11, 2009 but still no money and no flight home. On top of that Sea Chef decided on the spot to remove all hotel staff as the company hadn't received any money either.

Everybody left the ship apart from the 21 sailors who were supposed to get payed only on March 15 . I said goodby to my fellow expedition team members and we all oped the money would come in a few days. As I did not have a flight and did not get salary, I decided to stay on the ship and do the Trans Atlantic as galley utility. No passengers were onboard and the 22 of us would head for Cabo Verde and the to Funchal. We left Buenos Aires the same day without taking supplies but refueled.

All went well again until after March 15 when it was obvious that the sailors wouldn't get their salary either. The captain (who was a friend of the Croatian owner of the Andrea) changed plans quickly as he knew the crew could get the ship arrested in the next port. We ended up spending 23 days at sea without touching land. The final destination changed from Funchal to Split, the owner wanted his ship at home and docked in the safe (free) port of another friends of his...

I'll continue the story later, dinner is waiting!

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First of all, a very warm welcome on board our firendly forum here. We hope that you will find a lot of comfort and interest, in the many categories we have. Seeing that you are also a photographer, I'm especially thrilled that you have chosen to join us.

On the part of your bad experience, I feel very sorry that you have had to endure such an experience. It's really hard to fathom for all of us what you may feel and the frustration you may have experienced. I have always been so lucky to have received all my salaries, but seeing that you have not, that is a very sad side of shipping.

I hope and pray that you will find some legal help to claim your money, but as I have no idea how the legal side of things work, I don't know how much it takes.

Andrea, ex Harald Jarl, is a wonderful ship: BUT, a ship is only as good as it's maintained. And she is no teenager any longer, she needs a vigorous maintenance program to keep her up to date. When that fails, or halters due to lack of spares, it's a sad plight for the crew and the ship.

Based on your knowledge, is the ship now back in Split, and what do you think will happen to the ship in the future?

Is there a chance she will be sold, or will she be left abandoned for rotting or a subsequent scrapping, you think?

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So the 23 days passed as we were sailing the Atlantic doing maintenance and giving the ship a layer of fresh paint. During those days I often visited the bridge. The second officer had become a good friend of mine and whenever the Captain was absent he let me use the bridge computer. That way I was able to contact the ITF and let them know about the situation on board. We arrived at the port of Vranjic in Split on April 3, 2009 and docked alongside Elegant cruise's other ship: the Monet. Crew on board hadn't been paid either. Once there, the ITF held a meeting with me, the crew and West Wind that resulted in the crew being paid but not the expedition staff, as we had our contracts with Elegant. The ship became property of Hypo Alpe-Adria bank and Elegant got away with it and is still operating the Monet now. They had set up an ingenious system of side companies and saved themselves.

I am still in touch with some of the sailors who live in Split. The Andrea is still there and is for sale. A few sailors were appointed to keep the ship in shape for a possible buyer. I do not know what will happen, the ship is old and they ask a lot of money. I do hope someone will pitty her, buy her and give her some kind of new life. Now she is sitting in a dirty corner between shipwrecks and ships in need of repairs.

I was the last woman working on the Andrea. The last woman who accompanied her on her last voyage. I shed a tear when I looked at her for the last time, we might never see her again. I miss my time on her a lot, although I have a good job now on a much safer ship.

I'll try to post some pictures of the Andrea in Antarctica and in the port of Split.

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A thrilling story which shows the dark side of the cruise business. I wonder often how it is possible to continue with business without having any money and involving more and more other people in such a downforcing process.

An ironic detail is the name of the bank: Hypo-Alpe-Adria, one of these banks which run into bankrupcy because of the behavior of their managers, which are acting as gamblers, not as serious business men.

Thank you so much of sharing these details to us, Kristine, we spent so many months without knowing anything, because no one feeled honest enough to tell the truth...

I will keep an eye on this topic and see if anyone else knows what will finally happen to the Andrea. I am on and of in touch with some of the sailors and when they are in Split they usually inform me if the Andrea is still there or not. As soon as I know anything I'll keep you posted. I am in Split somewhere in October and if I get the chance and have a few hours off from my job, I will surely try to visit the ship (still have my ships crew card) and take some pictures.

You are welcome to use my pictures if you like, just mention me (Kristine Hannon) as the photographer.

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I just noticed that our member Gaelsail is uploading pictures from flickr (see Fram thread). Maybe she can help you and give some advice how to upload pictures from flickr. So forget about the photobucket staff, should be not necessary...

Lofoten '07 ...... Nordnorge '11

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Brilliant photos - the Antarctic cruise on Andrea was always a dream which could never comes true, because of the high price. But always I hoped a positioning cruise could be possible in the future. Maybe the only way to see Andrea again is a trip to Split in the near future. At the moment I think without a chance coming aboard are the costs for it to high. Hope a shiplover with a lot of money will set his heart on her.
Is someone here who knows the shiplovers who would save Harald Jarl in Trondheim after her last cruise in 2001?

I know a lot of veteranships in Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen, Bodø - at the moment I can not remember any nice old ship in Trondheim. I think they need one.
If the bank will find no buyer for her, the price should go down or they loose everything. Am I wrong?

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I just noticed that our member Gaelsail is uploading pictures from flickr (see Fram thread). Maybe she can help you and give some advice how to upload pictures from flickr. So forget about the photobucket staff, should be not necessary...

Just spotted this thread... uploading photos from FLICKR is fairly straight forward. As an example I've picked one of your photos:

Using the Flickr link for the size of image you choose. Convert it by putting the image URL within the forum's image brackets (insert image button above)

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Hi all, thanks for all the comment! About putting pictures in the forum: thanks gaelsail fro the instruction. But taking in accoutn the number of photos I have from Andrea I think the link to Flickr is best. Underneath you find a google earth picture of the location of the ship.
Eilun, I do hope the price will go down (there is no way anyone will pay that kind of money) and someone will buy the Andrea!

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That's the last place indicated on AIS shortly after she was arrested. I guess she hasn't moved since.

Many thanks for all the information Kristine. H-J (Andrea) is the main reason for my interest here on CV but I suddenly feel all hope has expired of seeing her back in service. Even without SOLAS, it would be an expensive exercise. Your pictures of damage sustained in Drakes Passage reveal some pretty worrying structural weaknesses. Maybe the 2000-2002 refurbishment was little more than cosmetic (though I still like the Gustavian decor).

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You're welcome, Clipper! I was happy to finally meet some people who wondered about Andrea's situation. And indeed, the ship is still in the same location where we docked on that fatal April 3, 2009 and the ITF came onboard. We docked at the entrance of the port but a few months ago they moved her deeper into the dock. One of the reasons why I keep an eye on her is that as soon as the ship starts sailing again I will surely do anything I can to retreive the salary I missed. I am speaking about more than 5000 dollars here, so worth it to keep focused on that.
The ship probabily hadn't been maintained well since her refit (which was a cosmetic one). She did get a new satelite and radar system though. Other than some repaint to keep her look good, not much has been done. That became very clear during that last Antarctic season when we found out major issue with the engine, watertight door etc. I remember the bridge's log which had red comments about engine problems on a lot of pages. I am very sure that we would not have survived a major storm in the Drake if it would have occured. In fact twice we left Antarctica half a day early to escape heavy weather. With rolls up to 42 degrees there were times I asked myself what would happen if we really would have very high seas. In fact, I took the pictures of the damage because the sailors asked me. They probabily knew much more than me what was going on.
I have no idea how they calculated the asking price of the Andrea. It must have something to do with the amount of debts the company still has towards Hypo Alpe-Adria bank. Otherwise I see no reason for the very high, unrealistic price.

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